Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

T.D. Ravenscroft.

100 Original photographs of South Africa by the famous early photographer T.D. Ravenscroft of Rondebosch.

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100 Original photographs by T.D. Ravenscroft. "Thomas Daniel Ravenscroft was clearly an extraordinary man. He was an early photographer in the Cape. His dates were 1851 or 2 to 1948 which made him the "world's oldest working professional photographer" during his long life. In the latter part of his life  (from the 1920s or 1930s, he lived in Hermanus or as it was called then Hermanuspietersfontein and was well known as a photographer of the town and he also did a photographic study of Stanford. Many of Ravenscroft's photographs are to be found in the De Wets Huis Photo Museum in Hermanus. Based on internet probing, his grandfather, George was in a British Army Garrison guarding Napoleon on Saint Helena.  When the commission ended in the early 1830s, the family decided to settle in Swellendam. Ravenscroft was established as a photographer in Cape Town during the 1890s. Apparently he lived in Robertson and then in Cape Town in Claremont and had a studio in Rondebosch." 

"I also noted from online sources that Vincent van Graan, a contemporary photographer has published a recent book Cape Town, "Then and Now" and has made use of Ravenscroft's photographs for the "Then" views, as well as the photographs of Arthur Elliott and Henry Smart. In fact through the ORM website one can purchase copies of these early Cape Town photographs of Ravenscroft and it seems of other early Cape photographers but now marketed and sold with an artist's fee by Van Graan at over R500 for each photograph."  

Boards separated and many photos and mounts loose. Occasional marginal damage, but photos in generally good condition.

Reference source.

Kathy Munro is an Honorary Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand.

http://www.theheritageportal.co.za/article/cape-town-photographs-tp-and-td-ravenscroft#

  • Overall Condition: Good
  • Size: 11 x 29 cm. and 25 x 28 cm.
  • Sold By: Ex Libris
  • Contact Person: Dr. P.J.B. Lamb
  • Country: South Africa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 0829364794
  • Preferred Payment Methods: EFT or Paypal with a 5% surcharge to cover additional costs.
  • Trade Associations: AA Approved


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